former acting attorney about subvert election

“You guys may not be following the internet the way I do,” Trump said at one point.ĭonoghue also described as “pure insanity” one of the conspiracy theories: That Italian satellites had changed votes to Biden. Trump had repeatedly pressured the DOJ officials to investigate election fraud claims. Ultimately, their pleadings had an impact on Trump, who backed down from the plan.īut Trump continued to claim that the election was stolen from him, including at the rally at the Ellipse that preceded the attack on the Capitol. But the DOJ also had found no evidence of widespread fraud, and such a move was seen within DOJ leadership as an effort to ultimately replace Joe Biden’s electors with those of Trump.Īs the officials argued to Trump against making such a move, the president at one point said, “What have I got to lose?”Īcting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue said that he told Trump, “a lot.” He said that during the Oval Office meeting that if he named Clark to the post, “within 24, 48 hours you could have hundreds and hundreds of resignations of the leadership of your entire Justice Department because of your actions.” He said that Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, called Clark’s letter a “murder-suicide pact.” PREVIOUSLY: Some of the most riveting testimony came from top Justice Department officials who described a JanuOval Office meeting in which they warned Donald Trump against appointing Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general.Īt the time, Clark was a DOJ official specializing in environmental law, but he also backed Donald Trump’s claims of a tainted election and would pursue steps to help reverse the results, including sending letters to Georgia and other states, on the grounds of election irregularities. John McEntee, a Trump aide, said in a videotaped deposition that Gaetz had told him that he asked for a pardon.

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Former acting attorney about subvert election